NBA Live 07Review

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Superstar controls go next-gen, but is it any better than last year?

By Jeff Haynes

Last year, if 360 owners were looking to step into the next generation of basketball play, they weren't doing it with NBA Live. Without a Dynasty Mode, All-Star Weekend or Superstar moves, the game was more like a shiny demo instead of a full court experience. This year, NBA Live 07 for the 360 tries to make amends by restoring everything that last year's game lacked: a full-fledged Dynasty mode, the All-Star Weekend that PS2 and Xbox owners have become accustomed to, and introduces Freestyle Superstar Controls to the game for the first time. Unfortunately, while they pumped in additional modes, the gameplay and the basic mechanics of the sport itself are still extremely flawed. As a result, Live 07 is a game that really should be riding the bench instead of starting this year.

Welcome to the GM's Office The Dynasty mode actually comes to the 360 this year with a larger focus on the draft, team dynamics and scheduling. Players can now choose to relive the 2006 NBA draft and pick their favorite rookies to help build the future of their team. Along with the standard assistants, scouts and trainers, you'll also need to hire a new assistant head coach to schedule team events such as practices or press days as well as check up on potential rumors that may be used to your advantage. These can range from players potentially being traded to highly skilled coaches and staff members looking for new organizations to become part of. As you progress through the season, you'll need to continually check in with these guys to see how well your squad is progressing, as well as what the team's particular chemistry is. Team Chemistry is important because the play of your team is affected by how high or low your rating is. The lower the rating, the harder it is for a team to mount a comeback during a big game.

Dynasty mode makes the leap to next-gen this year.

Dynasty mode also tracks the fatigue factor on your players in two ways. The first is based off the amount of game time your players log by starting or coming off the bench. The other is based on the amount of time that your team spends on the road, playing against opposing teams in their home arenas. It might not seem like a major part, but going on a long stretch around the country will negatively affect the strength of your players, making them much more susceptible to injury and long stints out of the lineup. There's something that's particularly unbalanced about this new system though, because some three or four game stretches away from home will sometimes knock out two or three of your starting five without fail.

Getting Ready For Tip-off

Basketball may be a team sport, but it's always been extremely easy to spot the stars from the generic faces on the court and the elite athletes that rose above them all in the NBA. Live 07 tries to highlight this by including the Freestyle Superstar Controls that have been part of the current gen system since last year. This year, players are classified as either a level 1, 2 or 3 superstar. Level 1 Superstars are the guys that are starting to be the future of the franchise, the guys that you know will take over for the veterans as they approach the twilight of their careers. Level 2 Superstars are guys that consistently make big time plays in big time games, thanks to their shooting, defense or passing skills. Level 3 Superstars, on the other hand, are the dominating athletes of the sport - players the fans want to see and the teams spend practice preparing for. As a result, they typically have many more abilities than the other players on the floor. To demonstrate their extraordinary talents, Live 07 gives you the ability to switch skills on the fly, so a player that might be a high flyer and prefers to dunk can quickly change to a playmaker or a shooter if the team needs those particular abilities.

Playmaking passing: one of 5 Freestyle Controls.

Live 07 for the 360 only features 5 Freestyle skills that you can choose from, unlike the current gen and PSP versions of the game. That feels somewhat cheap, since the other games have three more, especially since they decided to do away with the defensive superstar abilities. Now, players have the chance to be a High Flyer, which gives them flashy dunks, Scorers for layups and close shots, Play Makers for fancy passes, Post players for strong inside play and Shooters for raining shots from a distance. Somewhat similar to the current gen version, players can trigger any one of these moves by using the right analog stick in combination with the left bumper. While moving the stick in one of the four cardinal directions will create a basic kind of move, by rotating the right analog stick in a quarter circle players can make more complex and flashier steps. What the 360 version does not include this time around is the X-Factor, the clutch player that can become a superstar based on their on the court play, which happens to be found in the current gen versions. In its place is the ability to get In The Zone, which gives your Superstar new moves that they can make, as well as a better chance of their shots and passes working.